History in Print featuring 'The Other Great Migration'

The 20th century saw two great waves of African-American migration from the countryside into the city, changing not only the nation's demographics, but its culture as well. Join Preservation Houston on Thursday evening, October 20, as author and historian Bernadette Pruitt tells the story of The Other Great Migration as part of Preservation Houston's History in Print author series.

Between 1900 and 1950, almost 50,000 African-Americans left rural areas and small towns in Texas and Louisiana for Houston, drawn by the possibility of social advancement and prosperity in the growing city. With the Houston Ship Channel driving the economy, local businesses, industries and families recruited black workers as wage earners and domestic help.

The book includes a wide-ranging account of the opportunities, challenges and restrictions the migrants faced. The author details who the newcomers were, where they came from and why they left their homes, the neighborhoods where they settled, the jobs they held and the culture and institutions they transplanted and transformed.

Bernadette Pruitt is an associate professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. She was the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in history from the University of Houston.

The author will be signing her book after her presentation. The Other Great Migration will be available for purchase at the event for $40 including sales tax. Book sales at the event benefit Preservation Houston.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Fondren Hall on the second floor of the Jones Youth Building at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 5501 Main Street (the Jones Building is located just north of St. Paul’s sanctuary).

Admission to History in Print is free for Preservation Houston members and members of St. Paul's United Methodist Church. Admission is $5 for the general public.

Free parking is available in St. Paul’s lot on the northeast corner of Fannin and Binz (enter on Binz). Accessible parking spaces are located in the 5500 block of Fannin behind the church. St. Paul’s is also a short walk from the Museum District station on the MetroRail Red Line.